By Tim Peterson
(Santa Fe Springs) – Mike Moschetti has stepped down as the head football coach at La Mirada to take over as the head coach at St. Paul, the St. Paul administration confirmed Friday.
Moschetti, a La Mirada alum, had two stints at the school with the first being for nine years until he stepped down after the 2016 season. He returned in December 2018 and coached the Matadores from 2019 through the 2022 campaign.
In Moschetti’s last year of his first stint, in 2016, he led La Mirada to a CIF Division 3 Championship game appearance where the Mats lost to Edison 44-24. In 2015 Moschetti guided the Matadores to the CIF Southeast Division title as they beat La Serna 45-20. They then went on to win the state title as well beating Campolindo 27-3.
La Mirada went 4-6 last season, (2-3 in the Gateway League) and missed the playoffs.
He was named Mid Valley Sports Southeast Division Coach of the Year for 2015.
Moschetti takes over at St. Paul for Rick Zepeda who was let go after 10 years at the helm.
While the St. Paul head coaching search ends, La Mirada will begin its search for a new coach immediately.
Yea i dont think la serna will be affected by this hire. I mean if those kids really liked Moschetti they woulda been at La Mirada instead of La Serna in the first place. That would be a great match up in playoffs though
So lets just say they compete with amat this season, does that say a lot about the coaching or the “weak talent” they have?
no matter how bad AMAT gets just never forget it will never be “ST PAUL” bad, This hire is mediocre, had better talent at LM, I dont think this will last very long… 2-8 at best this season… maybe 4-6 because I do see some cupcake match ups.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (unless its Mater Dei or Bosco)
St.Paul needs something. When they played equal competition last year they didn’t just lose they got slapped around.
Some CAL parent acting like he’s from La Serna. Bro please.
This is a top notch hire for SP! Only problem is the talent pool he’s dealing with. Machete will learn quickly about the Hell Hole he’s about to enter. The Alumni, Parents, Administration and the rest of the SP community will wear him out quickly. It’s only a matter of time. I do wish him the best. He’s definitely a great hire.
IMO, that school is outdated and finished. Any kid with talent will keep driving past that school. So be prepared for the second or third tier talent pool. Mediocrity will be the mantra forever at SP. Days of greatness are long gone for SP…
Yeah anonymous stfu!
In other news, Jude Oliva has returned to Buena Park HS to be the OC.
Mike Moschetti was the quarterback at Mt Sac when they won a JC state championship, and then went to Colorado. So this guy is a better player than most. Second, a very big reason he’s going to St. Paul is that the Swordsmen’s AD, Rich Avina, was the defensive coordinator for Moschetti at LM in the first go-round. So we have a guy (Moshetti) who is a great athlete in his own right coming over to coach football where a good friend happens to work. No mystery in any of this.
SHUT ME UP!
WE DONT RECRUIT
WE DONT NEED TO RECRUIT
KIDS SHOW UP ON OUR DOOR STEP
@FBFan
What have you coached, reveal yourself you coward. That’s what I thought. A little man with no achievements talking big behind a pseudo name. You bash a lot of good coaches in the valley because you have not done anything with your life besides judging everybody that actually done something with their life.
stfu anonymous stop trolling
@ ANONYMOUS, typical La Serna booster. Can’t compete with only
“Friendly Hills” kids. So of course you have to take from surrounding areas.
Even though you all whine, we don’t recruit. When everyone knows your best players wouldn’t be at your school without open enrollment. Come on over baby loser mentality.
LA SERNA STILL OWNS THE AREA
ST PAUL STILL SUCKS
RUMOR HAS IT WE ALREADY HAVE 4 OF YOUR STARTERS WANTING TO TRANSFER!!!
COME ON OVER BABY!
#LANCERNATION
I wonder how he was able to get this job if he wasn’t on Twitter prior to getting the job talking about how great St. Paul is and how much he loves it so that people can start talking about him???
Half the kids on the team aren’t even Catholic let alone religious. Come on!!
He did and he proceeded to lose in the 1st Rd of the playoffs to Salesian…
Whats his mantra? “My teams aren’t afraid of anybody. We will get our butts kicked by anyone!” Of course he don’t put on pads.
You think those stud footballers pay?
Didn’t he get a QB from Santa Fe in 2014 or 2015
bottom line…. ?? addition of Downey and Warren may have been part of decision process? Good salary at LM and ?? good $$ private school head coach
Because it’s religious school were they teach about religion etc
Moschetti’s biggest problem will be getting the cash-starved Swordsmen organization to waive tuition for all the players he recruits. Will the tiny school on Greenleaf continue to give free tuition only for the football season, demanding monthly payments for the remainder of the year? I believe Mike bolted from LM because it tightened its policy on recruiting, but there will be these new monetary hurdles at the poor man’s private.
Moschetti will stay teaching at La Mirada SD. St Paul coaching stipend is more than public schools but certainly not a lot more and certainly not MD money. Plus St Paul can’t provide retirement package that La Mirada Unified can.
Why pay for school when you can get it for free.
Haha pioneer? Cmon man
Nope, moschetti never went after those type of kids to be successful at la mirada, he goes and picks up 2nd and 3rd string kids from the trinity that’s always been his style.
I’ve been hearing the rumors about this possibility, but to see it actually happen is a genuine surprise. There is no doubt that Zepeda was canned because Mike was in the bag before hand. Moschetti will be able to get talent because he promises scholarships to almost everybody. Outside of that, there must have been a generous salary used as bait to land this very big fish.
This could impact the top players from surrounding schools including La Mirada,Pioneer,Whittier, La Serna,Cal, Santa Fe and El Rancho. Plus St. Paul has a loyal following as well from all over the area.